"The authors examine the empirical evidence in support of the poverty trap view of underdevelopment. They calibrate simple aggregate growth models in which poverty traps can arise due to either low saving or low technology at low levels of development. They then use these models to assess the...

To continue monitoring how the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the welfare of households in the region, the World Bank and UNDP have joined forces in the implementation of a second phase of High-Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The survey, collected...

The COVID-19 pandemic represents the largest economic shock the world economy has witnessed in decades, causing a collapse in global activity. Nevertheless, there are signs that global activities are stabilizing, and have picked up in many large emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs)....

Vaccination has constituted the most effective response to save lives and reactivate economies and societies. By October 19th, 2022, almost 1,300 million Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine doses had been administered in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). However, lingering gaps in...